Steroids importer linked to teams

Date: February 24 2013

Adrian Proszenko, Sydney

A HEALTH scientist convicted of importing performance-enhancing supplements has worked with the cream of Australia's sporting talent over the past decade.

John Pryor, a self-described ''fitness trainer to the big boys of sport'', has worked as an assistant strength and conditioning coach to elite sporting teams including the Wallabies, Waratahs and Brumbies.

On the website of his health and fitness consultancy, which specialises in musculoskeletal disorders, he claims he also worked with the Brisbane Broncos, although a club spokesperson said he was ''never employed'' and was invited as a guest to a Broncos training run, in 2009.

Pryor made headlines when he was charged with illegally importing steroids over the internet prior to the Sydney Olympics. Then a scientist at the Sydney Academy of Sport, he was fined $500 in November of 2000 for the importation of three bottles of the banned drug DHEA-100 and two bottles of androstenedione. The substances were purchased for $266 from the US and although magistrate Deborah Sweeney accepted there was no evidence they would be given to athletes, she recorded a conviction to send out a strong message to other potential offenders.

Pryor - who holds a Masters of Health Science, Biomechanics, from Southern Cross University - said all of the teams he subsequently worked with were aware of the incident before employing him. ''I had no sanctions from sport, there was no suggestion of involvement with athletes and supplements of any kind,'' Pryor told Fairfax Media. ''That was acknowledged by a magistrate and an investigation into the matter.

''I didn't work in sport for four years after that. I felt my own mistake and actions brought bad press to the people I worked with. People in the industry had confidence in me because I'm a good strength and conditioning coach. They also understood there was never any question of bad conduct with athletes and coaches.

''I was asked to work in roles from 2004. My mistake was not related to sport but at the same time I acknowledge it was a bad mistake and that I'd brought attention to people. But every single athlete and every single situation I've worked in professionally - and I have 100 per cent confidence that everyone I've worked with would say the same thing - I've never dealt with people in private or suspicious circumstances. For me it's a 13-year-old issue for which I have long since paid for.''

Pryor stated he had no part in the distribution of supplements in his rugby roles, as this was the domain of accredited nutritionists. The role of sports scientists has come under scrutiny after the Australian Crime Commission's report into doping and links to organised crime.

Asked if he could empathise with former Manly and Essendon employee Stephen Dank, Pryor said: ''I'm a strength and conditioning coach, not a sports scientist. Sports science is a very specific qualification and you have to register with a body called ESSA [Exercise and Sports Science Australia].

''There is a distinction between a sports scientist and a strength coach. I'm not a sports scientist so I can't speak for them. I think the current situation is regrettable.''

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